


Monster Lead Me Home

by InkandOwl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Denial, F/M, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-22 18:39:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8296028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkandOwl/pseuds/InkandOwl
Summary: Pidge feels exhausted trying to fathom out the excuses anyone would have for acting like that.  “I don’t want to hash out all of the reasons he’s not in love with me, today.  It’s my birthday, let me have at least twenty four more hours to pretend that everything’s alright?  I’m even going to let Allura do my hair today.” She flips her ponytail around haphazardly and even Keith can’t deny her that.  Pidge turns twenty one on a Tuesday, but she decides she won’t sort out this heavy weight in her life until Wednesday.





	1. Chapter 1

Pidge turns twenty one on a Tuesday. She keeps her eyes focused on the calendar, roughly sketched out in chalk on her bedroom wall and frowns. “Twenty one” She says it mostly to herself, but Matt holds out a sauce dish full of liquid and hums. “What is it?” 

“Pretend it’s a shot” He grins like it just might be alcohol of some sort. Matt’s time in captivity left him scarred, physically more than Shiro. His face and neck littered with shiny scar tissue and discolored skin. He doesn’t laugh as easily as Pidge remembers. “Always wanted to be the one to take you out for your first drink.” 

Pidge takes the makeshift shot glass from her brother and throws it back, the liquid sweet and smooth. They’ve been in space for years, forming Voltron _for years_ , and Zarkon is gone, but there’s always some new tyrant trying to rise up and take his place. None of them are kids anymore, Pidge is the youngest, and now the darling little sister of the universe is the legal drinking age. She’s let her hair grow out, it makes it easier to tie back from her face. Her face doesn’t have the roundness of adolescence anymore. “Do you want to fight me?” She leans into Matt.

He huffs out what might be a laugh, “Not particularly. I bet if you ask Keith though it would make his whole day.” 

Pidge grins and she grabs her bayard roughly off her bed. “Yeah, I bet it would.” 

Her birthday hits her hard every year. She’s happy, even in space, surrounded by her friends, reunited with her brother and father. Sam had stayed behind on Earth with her mother when they were able to go back. The universe knows who they are, they’re celebrities on every planet they set foot on, yet every birthday Pidge wonders what it would be like if she wasn’t a paladin and was instead just Katie Holt. A twenty one year old finishing up college and looking to start a career in computer engineering, maybe getting that internship with NASA that she always wanted. 

Keith’s door is cracked open, but Pidge knocks anyway, the faint sound of music barely audible over the sound of papers being shuffled around. Pidge knits her eyebrows together, “Keith?”

“Hmm?” is her only response and she pushes the door open. Keith is digging around in his desk, “Pidge?” His eyes widen like he hasn’t seen Pidge in years, “Um… Do me a favor, go- sit with Lance.” He nods towards his bed where Lance is fast asleep.

“Oh wow, he’ll be great company.” Keith grins at her apologetically and Pidge falls back onto their bed, Lance barely stirring when she jostles one of the many pillows out from under him, “Is there a reason for this?” 

Keith glances back at her and nods, “Yeah, now don’t look.” 

Lance rolls over and drapes his arm across Pidge, squeezing her almost impossibly tight, “You don’t feel like Keith.” He mumbles into her shoulder.

“You would be correct.” She scratches her fingers through his hair and he groans happily. “Are you always this snuggly?” 

“Yes.” Keith answers far too quickly and Lance’s head pops up enough to glare at him, before falling back down. “Got it!” He produces a small brown box from his desk. “Here, Pidge, happy birthday.” He sits down on the other side of her and places the box on her stomach. The years together as a team have warmed Keith’s steely persona. 

Pidge squeezes his knee and glances to her left to see Lance awake and staring at her expectantly. She pulls herself up with her elbows and carefully unties the box. The necklace is small, only about the size of a dime. An intricate wire working of a lion’s face, eyes two clear green jewels, all hanging from a thin white chain. It’s subtle and delicate, “It’s perfect.” She breathes out. Her hands are shaking when she tries to undo the clasp, and Lance sits up enough to take it from her and slip it around her neck, “Where did you get this, it’s amazing?” 

“Lance found a jewelry maker in the Xiio Galaxy.” Keith tells her. Pidge hugs him tight and then turns to Lance, who kisses her cheeks relentlessly before she can properly hug him too. 

“I just came here to see if you wanted to train with me. I didn’t think I was going to get spoiled.”

Keith’s face get’s wildly serious and Lance laughs loudly, “You got him going. Look at him, you said training and his system got a reboot.” 

Pidge leans her head on Lance’s shoulder and bats her eyelashes at Keith, “Will you fight me, Keith?” 

Keith looks to Lance, face screwed up like he’s trying not to look _that_ excited about the prospect of training. “Go hit things, baby.” Lance winks at him and Keith practically falls off the bed.

“Let me get changed, I’ll meet you at the deck.” 

“Thanks.” She bumps her shoulder into Lance, who scratches at his chin and grimaces at the hint of stubble there. 

“Have you seen Hunk today?” He asks her quietly and Pidge struggles to look nonchalant. 

“Um, no, I’m sure I’ll see him later though.” 

Lance gives her a look that screams concerned older brother, “Probably best to talk to someone after you sleep with them, huh?” 

“Not if you were just rebound.” Her sarcasm bites just a little too hard not to sound pained and Lance rolls his eyes.

“You’re so dumb.” He sighs, “Go wail on Keith and act like it’s helping, _Kaite_ ” Pidge inhales like she might respond, but her cheeks flush red and she just earns herself a flick on the nose from Lance. She doesn’t want to face this. Not now, at least, on her birthday.

She drags her body and her bayard through the halls like they weigh eight tons each and smashes her fist into the door controls, Keith bouncing in happily on her heels. Pidge wonders if he’s going to break out into song and dance while he shouts out for the gladiators. 

Her name is Jun and she’s from a planet called Azerix. She’s only a little bit taller than Pidge with pretty lavender skin and a laugh that sounds like wind chimes. Hunk is in love with her. Pidge knows this because they were dating for two years and when they broke up a month ago, it was impossible to form Voltron for a week and when they finally did, it was like slipping into a neural void. 

Pidge knows this, because three days ago at a banquet being held for the paladins, after a few drinks from Coran, she had fallen into bed with Hunk. The next morning he left her with an awkward smile and met up somewhere with Jun. Pidge didn’t know if he came back to the castle ship that night, and frankly she didn’t want to know, as she hid in Green until the next day. 

“I don’t want to fight the gladiator.” Pidge says, mostly too quiet and Keith scrunches up his nose.

“Huh?” 

“I said I don’t want to fight the gladiators. I want to fight you. Just hand to hand combat.” 

Keith looks at his bayard a little sadly, but tosses it aside and waits for Pidge to do the same. “Alright, well, whenever you’re rea-” Pidge cuts him off with a well aimed kick to the side of the neck. “Pidge, jesus!” 

She barely has time to register regret though before Keith is on her, taking her out at the waist. They grapple on the ground, long enough for Keith to actually break a sweat and lose his footing more than once. Anger coils deep in Pidge’s guts but not towards Keith, he’s just a convenient outlet. She’s mad at Hunk, for leaving her alone in a bed with hardly a goodbye, like she wasn’t worth the effort. She’s mad at Jun for being so beautiful and smart and better better _better_ than Pidge. And she’s mad at herself for being so stupidly in love with her best friend for the better part of four years, and thinking that the universe owed her reciprocation. 

Suddenly, Keith is under her barely managing to keep her fists from connecting with his face and it isn’t until he grabs her wrists and forces her into the mats, that she can breathe again. “Pidge.” He’s breathless, panting hard, his fingers bruising her arms, “I’m- I’m impressed I won’t lie but this-” He gestures with one hand between them, “I don’t know if you’re okay.” 

“Keith, get off me.” She grits out, but Keith stares at her like he’s afraid she might start swinging again. Her eyes hurt, they burn and she’s trapped and every inch of her skin feels like pins and needles. She doesn’t even know she’s crying until Keith is pulling her into his arms and telling her it’s okay. Love has made Keith soft in a good way. Keith wears love with easy laughter and edges that are warm and kind. Love has made Keith beautiful. Pidge thinks she must look like an ugly weight in his embrace, like a grease stain on a favored cardigan. That’s what love has done to her. 

Pidge doesn’t know how long she stays curled up into Keith’s chest before he speaks, “Do you remember that fight we had on the moon of Kiott?” 

Of course she does, “You almost died.” 

Keith chuckles and Pidge thinks about punching him again, “Yeah. Yeah, I thought I was a goner for sure.” Red was nearly shorn in two. Keith was nearly shorn in two. Lance was holding him together when they got him into the healing pod. “Like, two weeks before that Lance told me he liked me. He was such a billboard of emotion all the time, so much affection, so much to give. When he asked me if he could take me out, if we could be a thing I told him ‘I can’t’.”

Pidge frowns at him, “What, really?” 

Keith laughs again but it’s humorless, “Shitty, right? It wasn’t for lack of want, god, I wanted him. I was so scared though, it was just too much there and I didn’t know how to deal with that. After Kiott, before I lost enough blood to black out completely, he was the last thing I saw and he was-” Keith stops talking and grits his teeth, like the memory is too painful to put into words. 

“He was bad. We thought we were going to lose him too, we could barely get him off you.” Pidge reminds him. Coran was digging shrapnel out of Pidge’s side when they dragged Lance away from the healing pod, and it was hard to know which hurt worse, that or hearing Lance’s begging echoing down the halls. 

“I dreamed about him the entire time.” Keith confesses, “I didn’t want to ever put him in another situation where he didn’t know exactly what I felt for him, with no answers. If I had died, he would’ve gone the rest of his life thinking it was completely one sided. It wasn’t fair.” He plays with Pidge’s fingers absent mindedly, “I told him, obviously.”

Pidge laughs despite herself, “Yeah, obviously.” 

“I guess I told you all of that so you could understand, that there’s multiple perspectives on these sort of situations. And some of us just aren’t that good at getting it right the first time.” 

Pidge wants to appreciate the words, and at the least it makes her respect Keith more, but she runs her hand across her face, “He left me alone, to go be with her. I slept with him and the next morning he went back to his ex.” 

Keith winces, “I’m not saying he’s right, but, maybe it’s also not what you think?” 

Pidge feels exhausted trying to fathom out the reasons anyone would have for acting like that. “I don’t want to hash out all of the reasons he’s not in love with me, today. It’s my birthday, let me have at least twenty four more hours to pretend that everything’s alright? I’m even going to let Allura do my hair today.” She flips her ponytail around haphazardly and even Keith can’t deny her that. 

Pidge turns twenty one on a Tuesday, but she decides she won’t sort out this heavy weight in her life until Wednesday.


	2. Chapter 2

Green is purring, a soft hum that almost puts Pidge to sleep as she curls up against her paw. Coran had given her a pocket constellation after her training with Keith. A small, pen sized machine that illuminated a constellation above her head, and she spun it carefully, watching each star twinkle vividly. Pidge touches one of the stars and it vibrates warmly against her fingertip and she laughs to herself. She feels like a little kid, and she’s happy. 

Until Green’s steady hum turns into a cautious growl and Pidge puts her hand against the cool metal. “What’s wrong, girl?” 

“Pidge?” His voice makes her blood freeze up inside her and she wonders if she can communicate to Green that she wants her to swallow her up in the cockpit and fly away from the hangar. 

She curls her knees up to her chest and clicks her constellation off instead, “Hey.” She forces a grin and she hates the way her voice wavers. 

Green is still making a threatening noise and Hunk’s eyes flick upward at the giant lion for a moment. “She seems happy.” He jokes and Pidge just runs her hand down the frame of her leg. “I’ve been looking for you all day, I wanted to give you-”

“Why?” Pidge cuts him off and it’s childish sounding to her ears. She cringes when Hunk’s face falls. 

“It’s your birthday.” He says quietly, holding up a wooden box roughly the size of a loaf of bread. “Can I sit?” 

She wants to tell him no, that she doesn’t want to talk to him or see him, that Green is going to eat him and she won’t stop her. But he looks just as tired as she feels, “Yeah that’s- Green, stop.” Her lion goes silent. 

Hunk sits on the floor of the hangar, between Green’s paws, cautious still of the lion, and places the box by Pidge’s knees. It has a bird burned carefully into the top of it, and flowers hand painted down the sides and she runs her fingers over it carefully. “This is really nice, did you make it?” She doesn’t look at him but she hears him huff out a laugh. 

“Yeah, but there’s stuff in it. I’m not just gonna give you a box for your birthday.” 

Pidge rolls her eyes, carefully undoes the metal clasp and flips the lid open. It’s a toolkit for her tech. New pliers, soldering supplies, and a nonstatic glove. A small collection of memory cards with Altean tech, enough storage to put terabytes to shame. There’s a poem on the inside of the lid, short, and written in Hawaiian. “What does it say?” 

Hunk’s cheeks color and he shrugs, “It’s just words of luck.” 

She stares at the box, at all of the things inside of it, and she swallows hard, “Thank you, this is. This is all really nice, Hunk.” She smiles and it’s at least slightly more genuine. 

“Pidge” It sounds like pleading to her ears and she feels her eyes sting, “Can I at least give you a hug?” 

The tentativeness of it all is killing Pidge, She looks across the hangar and takes a deep breath. Blue is laying down, looking more like a real cat than a giant robot, with Red crouched protectively over her and Pidge wishes the lions weren’t such visceral reflections of themselves. Mostly because Yellow is shut down with her head hanging like she needs a reboot. Pidge doesn’t answer him, just stretches her legs out in front of her and leans forward, her arms draping loosely around Hunks shoulders. His hands span easily across her back and he pulls her hard against his chest. Years of fighting have made Hunk more solid and broad than Yellow. His light stubble itches Pidge’s face but she doesn’t really care. Not when she can close her eyes and bury her nose in Hunk’s shoulder and pretend that she’s not more hurt than she’s ever been in her life. “God, I missed you.” His embrace tightens for a moment and she thinks he might crush her to death, and that would be just fine. But he lets her go and holds her away from him like he’s studying a painting. Her eyes water and she silently curses herself for the hot tears that spills down her cheeks. Hunk looks terrified, “Pidge, don’t cry, I don’t- _Katie_ ”

“Why-” She chokes on her words and she isn’t sure she can even get enough breath to finish, “Why did you leave?” 

Hunk swears under his breath and gently cups her face, “I shouldn’t have left you that morning, I didn’t- I didn’t know what to say, and I needed some clarity with- certain things.”

Pidge is angry then, shrugs out of his grip and shuffles back into the safety of her lion’s paw, “No, that’s not- That’s not a good answer. _I_ needed clarity, _I_ wanted answers. You went back to her.” 

Hunk sighs, a frustrated sound, “Yeah. How did you know?”

Pidge keeps her fists gripped angrily in her lap, “Coran told me. And don’t get mad at him, he didn’t know you were running off to be a huge asshole halfway across the galaxy.” She snaps, her voice echoing slightly. 

“I had to see her one last time, to let her know it was off for good. She was talking about giving us another try, and after that night I knew I couldn’t.” 

Pidge inspects the chipped paint on Green before leaning her forehead against the cool metal. “Did you sleep with her? When you went back to see her?” 

“Pidge-”

“Did you sleep with her?” She asks again, her chest painfully constricted.

“No! Jesus, Pidge, no.” Hunk runs his hand through his hair, “We talked. I told her I didn’t want to give our relationship another try, that I had feelings for someone else.” Pidge sniffs, a hollow sound in the emptiness of the hangar, and she feels infinitely exhausted. Hunk is quiet, watching her like she might fall apart again, and Pidge wishes she hadn’t let him see her so weak. “I didn’t tell her it was you but she guessed. Said she had seen it coming for a while.” 

“I wish you hadn’t left me.” She says it quietly, almost a whisper, and she knows she’s keeping it going, but something inside of her still hurts. “I thought you regretted it. Like maybe I was just rebound.” 

Hunk shakes his head, his eyes going red at the rims and Pidge doesn’t think she could stomach seeing him cry, even after everything she’s been put through. “No, Pidge, you weren’t rebound. You’re one of these best parts of my life, I’ve wanted you longer than it was fair to Jun. I wish I could go back and fix it, to not be so afraid to talk to you.” 

Pidge doesn’t want to talk anymore, _can’t_ talk anymore, because she has no words left in her to say. She slides across the short distance between them and situates herself in Hunks lap, rearranges his arms around her and closes her eyes. She buries her face in his chest while he tightens his hold on her, doubling over on himself to press his nose into the crook of her neck. “Can I kiss you?” 

His voice is soft in her ear and Pidge hums, “You want to?” 

He pushes her hair out of her face, lets his fingertips linger on the soft skin behind her ear, “Almost all the time.” He tells her.

It feels nice to kiss him again, to know how his lips move against hers when they’re sober. She thinks she could stay there forever, held tightly in his lap, sharing lazy kisses.

“Aww, sweet and so gross, children. Stop making out on the floor.” Lance’s voice is louder than usual in the hangar, and he’s dressed in his armor, dragging Hunk’s yellow uniform clumsily along. Keith trots in closely behind him with Pidge’s own paladin suit and he places it carefully next to Green. “We have a mission, comrades. A birthday mission!” he thumps his knees against Hunk’s back and skips away. 

Shiro yawns when he gets into the hangar and clicks their bayards together with a grin, “It’s been a while.” He doles out their weapons and scrunches up his nose, “Why are you on the floor?” 

Lance is practically vibrating, “They were being so gross, they were _kissing_ ” he drums a beat on Blue’s muzzle. 

“I caught you giving Keith a blowjob in the control room two nights ago.” Shiro reminds him, and Keith turns redder than his lion and lets out a small ‘i’m so sorry’. “Hey, happy birthday, Pidge.” He beams at her and Pidge laughs.

“What’s the mission?” She tugs at her under armor lazily.

“Illegal trade route just outside of the Ligo Galaxy. Stolen goods, stolen people. Should be a quick in and out job.” Shiro explains 

Hunk frowns, “That’s what you said about Kiott.” He mutters and Lance tenses up, relaxing only when Keith places a hand between his shoulder blades and rubs his back gently. “Allura’s on comms?” He changes the subject quickly and Shiro shakes his head.

“Matt, today-”

“Ah, you put her out of commission, huh?” Lance nudges Shiro who shoves him back towards blue.

“ _Matt will be helping us today_ , because Allura is running cross communications with Coran on any beings on the slave trade.” 

Pidge knocks on Green’s mouth and grabs onto her, only to be lifted into the air and dropped easily into the cockpit. She pulls her helmet on solidly and lights up the control panel. “Ready girl?” Green sounds almost musical when her systems are completely charged and she brushes leisurely against Yellow on the way out. 

~~

They don’t form Voltron when they get there, opting to stay separated and more discreet when they see that the traders have a vast creature in their possession, larger than their lions. “It’s an Audiocrane” Matt clears his throat carefully over their microphones and Pidge frowns,

“A what?” 

“Audiocrane, they’re almost entirely extinct, and mostly docile. They have an acoustics range that supersedes the decibel levels that human ears can withstand, but fortunately they only release their cry when frightened. So don’t- you know- startle it.”

“We have visual on the trader’s caravan.” Keith interrupts him and turns their attention to a small group of aliens gathered near the center of the amassed trail. They’re heavily armed but Pidge doesn’t think much of it, most guns do nothing to their lions. 

“There’s too many innocent civilians in close proximity, we’ll need to take them out on foot. I need Lance with me.” Shiro’s voice clicks through followed by an excited ‘ _whoop_ ’ from Lance. “I need the rest of you scouting out any other potential traders.” They follow closely behind Shiro, traveling to a remote forest close enough to offer coverage. 

It’s a simple enough plan that Shiro doles out once they’re on their feet, Keith, Hunk and Pidge skirt the exterior, while Lance sets up a post for sniping. It’s comically easy, when Pidge thinks about it and she clips her bayard onto her side. She watches the Audiocrane lumber slowly to the east over the treeline. 

The mission goes down in their history as Murphy's Law at its finest.

The traders are more well prepared than they had cut them credit for and pick up Lance on heat detection. The subsequential hailstorm of bullets they unload on him has Shiro shoving Hunk in Lance’s direction and demanding that he cover him. He doesn’t have to tell him twice, Hunk would’ve probably gone after Lance without orders, and his bayard whirs to life. 

Hunk’s gatling gun is loud and he returns fire as good as they’re getting it, Lance’s voice tinny on the comms “Oh, hey bud” he greets Hunk. Keith is in Pidge’s face, knocking his bayard against her helmet and shouting about the Audiocrane, which has reared back, it’s hideous teeth bared. She can vaguely hear Matt reassuring them that as long as they keep their helmets on they’re fine, and Shiro rushes past her into a fist fight with a trader that has made it through the barrage of ammo. Everything is so incredibly loud and devolved into chaos around them and Lance is singing something and “Lance, stop!” Shiro grunts and Lance whines.

There’s a horrible shrieking noise that shakes Pidge to the core and she loses her footing, ground trembling beneath her and she grabs her bayard off of her hip, “What was that?” She asks before digging her weapon into the side of an attacker. 

“That was the Audiocrane muted but 250%.” Matt hums thoughtfully, “You guys are truly making a mess out of nothing. Lance and Hunk, you two are closest to the caravan, please just light them up so we can get all of these people back home.” 

Keith comes to Pidge’s side, sword coming down easily on multiple aliens, “They don’t have the firepower, not against whatever weapons they’re using against us.” 

“We do if we combine them!” Hunk chimes in, pulling open the control panel of his bayard. “Lance, give me your gun, we can make this baby go nuclear.” 

“Yeah, literally nuclear.” Pidge huffs.

“Don’t do it, Hunk, Pidge is right.” Matt warns but Lance is already digging his fingers into the wiring of his gun and fixing Hunk with a decided wink.

Pidge grabs Keith, and sets him in the eyeline of absolute mass destruction that Hunk and Lance are about to unleash and Keith pulls Pidge down, yelling for Shiro to clear out when he does. The last thing they hear is Lance grit out a cocky “We got this” before Hunk is fitting their bayards together with a crunching metallic sound and pulling the trigger. 

The caravan goes sky high. And so does the surrounding area. 

Pidge can feel her hair whipping against her face, her helmet knocked across the dirt and she groans. She can barely make out Lance and Hunk’s figures immobile in the center of it all. Keith sways slightly on his hands and knees, “Lance.” His voice is barely a whisper and before Pidge can feel anything akin to dread, she hears chuckling coming from Keith’s helmet mic. “Lance, what the fuck?!” He growls and the laughing get’s louder. Hunk holds his arm up lazily, thumb in the air and Pidge can’t help the quiet snicker. “Don’t encourage them, Pidge.” Keith falls back onto his rear and Pidge stands up on shaky legs to go get her helmet. 

Lance and Hunk drag each other over to the others, covered head to toe in the black soil that they had blown to the surface. Pidge picks up her helmet and inspects it, completely dented in on one side where it had been crushed by falling rocks. “Ah, shit.” She brushes it off and looks up in time to see Shiro jogging over to them, hand gesturing in a vague upward direction.

“Audiocrane is winding up again, get that helmet on, Pidge.” He yells, and sure enough, the massive animal is rearing back, jaws agape. 

Her helmet doesn’t fit on her head anymore though, metal too warped to put it on and her body goes rigged with panic. “I- I can’t” She feels genuine terror for the first time on a mission since Kiott. 

The air goes still, the chatter of the world and the chaos of post battle halts and every single one of her teammates is looking at her like she’s a ghost. Hunk moves first, running towards her at a full sprint, but it’s too late. 

It doesn’t sound like anything, Pidge decides. There’s just pain, terrible and knife-like in her ears and searing into her skull. The nausea hits her first, throws her, doubled over onto the ground and leaving her gasping for air. Then she’s hit with the ringing, like an air raid siren blaring in her head. Hunk slides into her space, presses his hands over her ears just those few moments too late, and she can barely focus her eyes enough to see him talking, no, _shouting_. But she can’t hear him. She can’t hear any of them when they surround her, mouths moving and hands and she can’t _hear anything_. Pidge is gasping for air she can’t get and Hunk pulls his hands away from her ears, palms coated in thick red blood. 

The last thing she remember is Hunk scooping her into his arms and then black.

~~

The sun is warm, and Katie Holt stretches out on the grass, clicking her jelly sandals together. She lost her tooth last night and she reaches into the pocket of her dress to feel the quarter that the tooth fairy left for her. 

“You want to get ice cream, Katie?” Matt stands over her, blocking out the sun. 

“Yeah.” She stands up, not bothering to fix her hair which has become matted in the back, “I hope they have the strawberry kind this time.” She steps awkwardly, her feet turned inward and she grimaces and corrects her stance. Her mom hates it. 

“Are you worrying about your pigeon toes again?” Matt teases and she feels her face go red. “It’s fine, you’ll grow out of it, just like the doctor said. You can be my little pidge for now.” He drapes his arm around Katie and walks with her to the corner store.

The man selling ice cream has red hair and a bright red mustache and Katie has never seen him before. He speaks with a funny accent when he takes her quarter and tells her, “You are without a doubt the most resilient human I’ve ever met.” It’s an odd thing to say and she looks to her brother, who doesn’t seem to have noticed the strange man. “You really must wake up now.” 

Her ears are ringing, a dull throbbing between them and she whines, “It hurts, my ears-”

“Ah, yes, they’ll be a bit tender for a while, but really you could’ve died. So chop chop! Rise and shine!” 

Katie stumbles away from the counter and loses her footing. She’s falling backwards but there is no impact, just a roaring sound and a faint beeping and she opens her eyes. 

“Ah, there she is!” Coran braces her when she stumbles out of the healing pod. 

The room is empty, dimly lit, which must mean the others are asleep, and she brings her hand up to her ear, flinching when she touches the raw skin there, “Ah, fffffuck.” She hisses out and Coran shakes his head.

“The girl that survives an Audiocrane, has her inner ears melted away, and regrows all of her hearing agents, and all she can do is swear at me.” He tuts and runs a cellular scanner over her body.

“I’m sorry.” Pidge grins slightly, “I didn’t think waking up would hurt this bad. Honestly, I didn’t think this mission would go this- south.” She admits.

Coran grips her shoulders, “Well, it’s understandable. We thought you were a dead girl when Hunk dragged you in here. I’m so very glad you’re alright.” 

His voice gets watery and Pidge feels fondness spread in her chest as she wraps her arms around Coran. “Thank you for taking care of me.” Coran pets her hair softly, “Is everyone sleeping?” 

Coran nods, “It’s been four days, most of them wore themselves out enough to crawl back to bed on their own. Had to drug Hunk this evening though, his anxiety was giving me anxiety. After that blunder on Kiott with Keith and all the psychological rebuilding we had to do on Lance, I was hoping all you Paladins would stop mating with each other. It truly does make things very- emotionally exhausting.” 

“I don’t think anyone is _mating_ , Coran.” Pidge nudges him and he rolls his eyes.

“Tell that to Keith and Lance, I’m almost positive they’re trying for pregnancy.” He quips and Pidge snickers.

“That’s awesome. Futile, and awesome.” She yawns and tugs at her medical suit, “Am I dispatched and ready for bed?”

Coran turns her head side to side one last time, checking her ears, “I don’t see why not. It’s good to have you with us still.” 

Pidge thinks that it’s good she’s still around too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter one more chapter!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Sexual content warning**

The medical suits on the ship are fibrous and tight, but they feel weightless and cool and Pidge picks at it, leaned carefully against the wall. She should go back to her room and get changed, maybe run a brush through her hair. The ships humming quietly in the calm of night time and Hunks room is _right there_. 

Pidge brushes against the door, eyes carefully trained down the hallway, and the lock chirps happily when she tries it. It slides open with a hiss and she falls in sideways. Hunk’s room is dark, a few papers tacked to the wall rustling in the breeze of a fan. There’s pictures of all of them framed lovingly on his desk, as well as pictures of his family back on Earth, and a corkboard covered in concert tickets hanging above his bed. It’s less cluttered than her own room, but welcoming and lived in. 

Hunk sleeps on his back, arms tucked carefully behind his head like he’s relaxing on the beach, a thin tank top on. Pidge feels her face heat and doubt sits heavy in her chest. She sighs and presses her fingers against her eyes, turning to leave. 

“Pidge?” She bites her lips and turns back to Hunk, sitting up on his elbows now. 

“Hey.” He laughs awkwardly, “Sorry, I thought maybe you would be awake? That’s so stupid though, it’s the middle of the-”

Hunk clears the room easily and picks Pidge up into his arms, lifting her off of her feet, “It’s so good to see you awake, I was so worried.” His voice is thick with emotion, “You were so- _dead-ish_ ” He wrinkles his nose and Pidge gestures to herself

“Risen like or lord and savior.” She grins, “And with heightened hearing now too.”

Hunk laughs, lets his hands drag carefully over her shoulders like he’s checking that she’s not a hologram. “So you came to my room, because?” 

His voice is teasing and Pidge is glad the only source of light in his room is the glow of space outside of his window, so that he can’t see her blushing. “Late night checkers?” she squeaks. 

“I’m gonna kiss you.” Hunk pulls her gently towards him. 

“Okay.” She hops gently up on the balls of her feet. 

“And then I’m going to take you apart in my bed.” He settles his hands low on her hips and she nods. “Maybe more than once.” His voice is a deep growl and is makes Pidge shiver. “But I want you to understand something before I do.” 

Pidge clings to the front of his shirt, hands twisting desperately in the fabric, and she knows she’s probably ruined it. “Is it something i’m gonna like understanding?” She’s nervous and she hopes it doesn’t show in her voice. 

“I hope so.” Hunk smiles gently, and he doesn’t have the hungry tone to his voice, “Pidge, you are my best friend. It was really difficult this past year though, when I realized that I’m in love with you.” 

Pidge’s heart thumps painfully in her chest, “You’re in love with me?” 

“In a big way, I was afraid you all would figure it out in Voltron. Like our little neural handshake would give it away.” 

“Nice, Pacific Rim.” Pidge practically whispers. She blinks a few times, whines in the back of her throat, “I love you too, for-” She thinks about it, “Three years?” 

“Three-” Hunk practically chokes, “Pidge, god, I gotta makes this up to you.” He lifts her easily, drops her on the bed and she _giggles_ when he climbs over her to kiss her like he’s starved for it. She digs her fingers into his bed ruffled hair, bites her lip when he presses kisses into her neck, sucking on the delicate skin under her jawline. 

The first time they did this, they were both drunk. She remembers it, of course she does, but it was frantic and hurried and she hadn’t even made it out of her banquet dress. Hunk had just shoved the heavy Altean material around her hips and pressed her against the wall. Now, though, he moves slowly and with intent, fingers dragging delicately over the skin of her neck and across the thin fabric of her medical clothes. 

Hunk looks like a god above her, toned and confident, like she dreamt him up, and when he lifts her shirt off of her, Pidge crosses her arms across her less than impressive chest. She’s small and pale, even more than usual from her days spent in the healing pod, and her legs are littered with scars from a bomb they had encountered years prior. Her hair is too thick and frizzy and and she’s not positive she ever grew into her teeth. 

“Pidge.” Hunk’s voice drags her out of her thoughts and he gently grabs her wrists, tugging them away from her body, “You’re hiding from me.” 

It’s not a question, but Pidge knows he wants an answer. “I’m sorry- I look,” She sighs, having a hard time voicing her insecurities when she’s half naked in front of the man she loves.

“You look beautiful.” Hunk kisses her again, his rough hands dragging down the sides of her ribs, “Incredible. Like, I’m probably only going to last thirty seconds, that’s how good you look.” 

Pidge laughs, Hunk chuckling into the side of her neck. He slips her shorts down carefully, leaving her completely exposed and she shivers a little from the fan across the room. “The clothing ratio between us is really unproportional.” She manages to choke out when he runs his hand up the inside of her thigh. 

“Hmmm” Hunk kisses down her chest, stops to drag his tongue lightly over her nipple and her breath catches, “Be patient, I want to take care of you.” He grins and uses a knee to deftly push her legs apart. Training has truly done wonders for the paladins sex lives. His hand teases between her legs, his thumb pressed lightly against her clit and she’s already squirming. Her teeth dig hard into her bottom lip and she swallows down a whine that is trying to escape. “Are you gonna let me hear you?” His thumb moves in a torturously slow circle and she presses her eyes shut, shaking her head. “Oh, Katie, that’s no fun.” Hunk doesn’t slow the motion of his thumb as he presses the tip of his middle finger against her already wet opening, pressing in just enough for her to feel it. She whimpers and he pushes in a little further, working his thumb faster and she grits her teeth.

When he crooks his finger gently inside of her, she gives in, pants out a litany of “Please, Hunk, please _please_.” 

Hunk sits back with a cocky grin more befitting of Lance and kisses the inside of her knee, pulling his hand away only to rest it, wet and sticky against her thigh. Before she can protest though, he leans forward to kiss up her leg, settling down so that his breath teases her lightly. “Hunk?” She pushes herself up on her elbows in time to see his run his tongue over her swollen clit and she collapses bag onto a bed with a breathy, “oh, shit.” Hunk laughs, and the hum of it makes Pidge whine. His finger is back inside of her, a gentle in and out that matches the rhythm of his tongue and she winds her hands into the sheets. Her orgasm builds up slowly inside of her, shakes her to her bones as her body constricts around Hunk’s fingers, heels digging into the mattress. She swears when Hunk runs his tongue over her one last time. 

She continues to swear when she drags Hunk up onto the bed with her and practically tears his sweatpants off, pulling him out of the confines of his boxers. Pidge remembers him being big, but not _this_ big when she wraps her hand around his dick and seats herself over his thighs. It must show on her face, because Hunk steadies her with a hand on her hip, despite his uneven panting as she works him with two hands. “Pidge, you don’t have to-”

“Oh, please, I’ve done this before.” She had plenty of alcohol in her before, but it doesn’t stop her from rocking up on her knees and lining him up with her opening. 

Hunk’s face is flushed but he still flashes Pidge a grin like he’s got a joke she’s not in on, “I mean, if you’re sure.” 

It’s a challenge he knows she won’t back down from and she sinks down onto him, only a couple inches, but enough to make her gasp and brace herself against his shoulders. She’s plenty relaxed from her orgasm, but it doesn’t change the fact that she feels impossibly full as she takes his as far as he’ll go. Hunk has his eyes shut and his breathing concentrated and Pidge wiggles her hips, watches him groan and still her. “You okay there, big guy?” She teases and Hunk huffs out a laugh.

“I’m fine, you little shit.” He manages as she rocks gently in his lap. She laughs and picks up her pace, drawing breathy moans out of Hunk that make her shiver. “I wasn’t joking though, I might come in a few seconds. You look so hot.” He lifts her off of his lap, drops her onto the mattress and presses her knees up to her chest.

“I am, it’s blistering in here. I don’t think your fan, ah-!” Hunk drives into her roughly, hips grinding hard against the backs of her thighs, “Hu- Hunk!” She’s being loud, enough to embarrass her later when she thinks about it, but in the moment she doesn’t care. He has her practically folded in half, her arms pinned above her head with one of his hands. His thrusting becomes erratic, stuttering, and he pulls out in time to come messy and hot across her stomach. 

“Oh, fuck-” He swallows hard, struggling not to collapse on top of her, “I’m so sorry, Pidge. I didn’t mean too-” He gestures vaguely to her slick torso, “I’ll get you a towel.” Hunk kisses her knee but pauses before he leaves. He inspects her sprawled across his bed, fresh hickeys on her fair skin and hair strewn out wildly underneath her, covered in his come and he huffs. Pidge quirks an eyebrow at him and he gestures to her being, “Art.” He says simply and she snickers, kicking lightly at his chest.

“You’re like a caveman, go get me a towel.” 

Hunk moves quickly to his closet and Pidge breathes deeply, eyes heavy with exhaustion. Hunk wipes her down carefully, digging into her belly button until she laughs. “You’ll stay here tonight?” Hunk moves her onto the pillows and pulls the covers up over them. 

“You’ll be here in the morning?” She lets him lace their fingers together, limbs feeling useless. 

Hunk kisses her forehead, “Every, single, morning.” He promises. Pidge falls into a sleep deeper than the cryo-pod. 

~~

 

“I can’t believe you look worse now than you did when you went into cryo.” Lance stares at her incredulously, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth as he yanks Pidge’s shirt collar to the side. He had run into her in the hallway on the way to breakfast, and after crushing her in a hug, had dug his thumb into a hickey on the side of her neck like he was trying to take her out at the jugular. 

She sinks into her chair at the breakfast table and Lance takes his seat next to Hunk, “Can you believe our poor Katherine was attacked by leeches in the med bay?” 

“Absolute negligence.” Hunk shakes his head sadly, not looking up from his toast he had made with contraband Earth bread. 

Lance stares at Hunk with his tongue between his teeth, practically vibrating with unbridled energy. Keith snorts and taps his pen against a blank Sudoku puzzle. Shiro looks from Lance, to Hunk, to Pidge and sighs, “Lance, don’t-” 

“Did you fuck Pidge last night?” Lance blurts out and Allura chokes on her tea.

Hunk drops his elbow solidly on the table and rests his face against his fist, “Why do you have to say it like that, man?”

“Yeah, he did.” Pidge reaches over to steal a piece of fruit from the center of the table and grins at Hunk.

Lance laughs loudly and fist bumps Pidge, “After how many days in a healing pod? Absolutely savage.” 

“Alright, let’s keep the sex talk to a minimum at the breakfast table.” Shiro rubs the bridge of his nose tiredly, and Allura smiles kindly,

“But congratulations” She chirps. 

Pidge moves closer to Hunk, settles down in the crook of his side and picks absently at her orange. Chatter around the table has picked up, distracted by Lance regaling them with a story about summer camp when he was in high school. Hunk kisses the top of Pidge’s head gently and she glances up at him, “I love you.” He says it quietly and Pidge can’t help the smile that grows on her face. 

“I love you too.” She opts to roll her orange around between her palms and close her eyes, Hunk draping his arm across her shoulder and holding her tight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna make a joke about how I banged this out really quick but....  
> anyways, come hang out with me at inkandowl on tumblr and talk to me about hidge

**Author's Note:**

> Woah hey there's like ten Hidge fics in this entire fandom. 
> 
> I love them, and I love their relationship, and I really wanted to explore the dynamic of the paladins as a group after years of forming Voltron. This isn't beta'd and it's a for funsies thing for me, but feel free to come hang with me on tumblr: inkandowl.tumblr.com I have some Hidge art there


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